Mediheal Group of Hospitals and two other facilities are under investigation over claims of illegal organ harvesting, after revelations that some foreign patients received transplants funded by the now-defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
The matter came to light during a sitting of the National Assembly’s Health Committee in Eldoret on August 28, where hospital officials admitted that foreigners mainly Somali nationals had undergone transplants in their facilities.
Committee member and Endebess MP Robert Pukose pressed the officials on whether they had treated patients from outside Kenya. In response, a doctor from Mediheal confirmed that at least five kidney transplant recipients were Somali.
When asked where the donors came from, the hospitals explained that another medical centre had the role of finding and matching donors with recipients. They insisted most donors were close relatives of the patients.
The committee has now demanded full records of all transplant procedures, including the identities and nationalities of both donors and recipients.
One hospital admitted it had conducted 34 kidney transplants, some of which had complications.
“There were one or two cases of organ rejection, some bleeding that required patients to return to theatre, and one donor who developed acute kidney injury but later recovered. Sadly, we also received reports of a few patients who died after surgery,” a hospital representative told MPs.
While acknowledging gaps in follow-up care, the hospital officials denied wrongdoing, saying all procedures followed Kenyan law, including the Health Act 2017, the Human Tissues Act, and the Data Protection Act. They added that ethical standards on consent and justice were observed.